Combination trunk packing-board and clothes-rack.



` H. G. BATES. COMBINATION TRUNK PACKING BOARD AND GLOTHES RACK. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20,A 1911.

1,033,045. Patenteaauly 16, 1912.` u .Y 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.' ef. 3Q- r 50.' ,251,

i un

/wy Saz-Les.

s'r .arr

.HARRY G. Barns, or nnncnrrnrin PARK, nn'wannsnn.

COMBINATION TRUNK PACKING-BOARD AND CLOTHES-RACK.

' a full, clear, andexact description of 'the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings,4 and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which forma part of this specification.

Myyinvention relates to a 'combination trunk packing-board and clothes-rack, being a device-.adapted to-be employed in connection' with a trunk, in whichA capacity it acts as a follower"adapted to fill the space or horizontal sectional area of the trunk, being constructed to be pressed downwardly into the trunk against the articles to be packed,

. the board being equippedl with springactiiated rods; adapted tof engage toothed plates` vertically disposed, on the sides .and Vends of. the trunk, thezteeth' of the said plates 4being arranged to allow the rods of the board to slip downwardly over the same and catch wherever the board is stopped.I

Provisionis made by the einploymentof a centrally-located disk, having curved slots into which pins f formed on 'the inner ex- 1treni itiesofthe said rods project, whereby thej `rods mayl ,b ewithdrawn f from engagevment withthe teeth @when it isdesired to remove` the tboard, the slotteddislrxhaving a projecting arm" or handle giving suiiicient .leverage toeasily'movethe .disk against the tension-"cf a spring,lone extremity of which is connected with the disk while the other extremity is sec-ured tothe board. l When.talien from the trunk, the board niaygbe hung upon suitable hooks, nails', or

other supports, which the wall contains, and,

' when used in this capacity, folding hooks ,mounted on the *board are -leulapted to be brought into requisitiomthe said hooks beingraised from their normaly' folded positionagainst the board. This'device,-.while advantageous in connection with all trunks,

andforais by all travelersVis more2- especiallyadvantageous for the use of acto' nd theater-people whose dressing rooms are 'usually illy equipped with convenience Specification of Letters ate'nt. application sied november ao, i911.

Patented Jara to, iota. s eiaino. esmas. Y

hanging garments by reasonofjthe'fact that the walls of these dressingrooms are' often' soiled or coated with kalsomine, whichwill readily come off on articles which arelnin'gl against the wall. This rack protects' the articles from actual contact `with thewall, and, at the same time, affords a convenient,

support for various articles of clothing by reason of its equipment with the' aforesaid vfolding hooks.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, l will proceed to describe the same in detail. reference beingmade to- `'the ac.-y coml'ianying drawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.V 'y e lnthis drawing: Figure 1'isv a vertical longitudinal section taken through a trunk equipped rith my improvement. This, sec-' tion is tak-f1 on the line 1 1 of Fig. the packing-board. however, being shown vin ele-v vation. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section,taken on t-he line 2-2 of Fig. 1,A looking downwardly. or in the direction of the arrowv adjacent the said line. Fig. 3 is a detail vieni of the trunk packing-board shown in posiv tion as a clothes-rack, the same having been detached from t-he trunk and shown on a larger scale. Fig. 4 is a section taken on the' line 4-4 of Fig. 3, looking toward the right," Fig. 5 'is a fragmentary sectional view of the device, cutting the spring-helddisk, being a section taken on the line 5--5 of Figz.' ythe parts being shown on a larger scale. fk Fig. G

is a detail View of the diskv for manipulating mounted a disk 13 having a central opening 14 through which a pivot bolt 15 is passed, 105

the head of the bolt engagingthe lower sur` face of the central sl'at 10While a nut .16 is applied to the upper threaded extremity of the bolt, the nut being screwed upoln`vv a Washer'l 17, which engages 'from above" a' coiled spring 18, one eXtremity;j-of whicliis ico the opposite extremity is secured to one of the slats 10 of the board, as shown at Q0.

The inner extremity of each ratchet rod T is equipped with a pin Q1, which enters a curved slot 22 formed in the disk, the curve of the slots being arranged in such a manner that. as the disk is turned against the tension of its spring, the pins` traveling in the slots, will withdraw the fiat rods 7 and 8 from engagementwith the teeth of the ratchet bars 6'. The' board may then be removed from the trunk and hung against the wall or applied to any' suitable support, which will make the device available as a clothes-rack- The ratchet rods 7 and S are preferably formed fiat. These rods are comparatively thin, while the slats 10 are preferably composed of wood, making the device relatively light, whereby it adds very little weight to the trunk. lVhile the cross bars 1'2, as illustrated in the drawing, are supposed to be composed of metal, itis evident that the board may be of any suitable construction. As illustrated in the drawing, the ratchet rods T, which are the longitudinallyarranged rods, are embedded in grooves Q23 formed in the central slat or member 10 of'the board, the rods being of such thickness that, when embedded in the said grooves. their upper surfaces are flush with the surface of the slat member 10.

The ratchet rods 7 from above by the T-irons 12. The ratchet rods S, which are the two rods extending at right. angles to the rods 7- and whose outer extremities engage the ratchet bars applied to the sides of the trunk, are embedded in grooves 2li formed transversely in the two members 10 on opposite sides of the corresponding central member, while short plates 25 are applied to the said 'members 10 above the ratchet rods 8, to hold the said rods in place, thus cope'rating with the grooved members 10 to form retaining guides for the said ratchet rods.

My improved trunk packing-board is equipped with a number of hooks 26, which are hinged to themembers 10 of the board, as shown at 27,'whereby'the hooks may be folded flat against the members 10 or raised therefrom to form hooks upon which garments of various kinds may be hung. The folding hooks 2G, upon adjacent slat members 10, may be arranged in staggered relation, so that garments hung upon the hooks may not interfere with each other. The various folding hooks -mounted upon the board, as heretofore explained, are preferably longest upon the slat member 10, which is uppermost when the board is hung up to be used as av clothes-rack, the corresponding hooks on the slat member 10, next below, being shorter, while the hooks upon the lower members 10 are successively shorter,

are further guidedy is suspended, the opposite extremities ofthe chains being equipped with hooks 29 adapted to be applied 'tonails 30 or other suitable or similar supports. lf circumstances should require, the chains QS may be wrapped around heating or other pipes,

which are exposed in dressing rooms, partieularly where these rooms, as is often the case, are located in the basement of the theater building. llhen so wrapped around pipes the hooks 30 are available for insertion in links of the cha-insbelow the pipes for fastening purposes. From the foregoing' description the use and Voperation of my improved device will be readily understood. Assuming that the trunk is equipped with the ratchet bars G, after the articles which are to he placed in 'the body of the trunk are put in position, the packing board or follower is placed thereon with its ratchet rods 7 in alinement with the respective ratchet bars 6 applied to the opposite sides and ends of the trunk. as heretofore explained. The board. is then pressed downwardly upon the garments, the ratchet rods alternately moving inwardly and outwardly as they successively pass the teeth of the vratchet bars.

Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claim is z- 1. A packing boardlwhose upper surface has a centrally located plate pivotally mounted thereon, ratchet rods' slidably mounted on the board and whose inner extremities are 'equipped with pins :entering slots formed in the said plate and -sol arranged that when the plate is turned in the proper direction, v'the rods are drawn inwardly toward the center of the board, and ay spring lying fiat upon-the plate and connected therewith at one extremity and with with ratchet bars applied to the inner sur-l face of the walls thereof, apacking board '4 whose upper surface `is equipped with rods, a, plate pivotally mounted on the board and having eccentric slots, the inner 'extremities while Ithe other Vextremityis attached to thel ofthe rods being equippedw'itlipins enter'-l ing said slots, the outer extremities of the vrods engaging the ratchet bars, and a spring.

for actuating the rods, said spring being coiled around the center of the plate and having one eXtrenut-ylconnected therewith,

board,`for the purpose set'forth.

the corresponding '3. rlhe combination witlra trunk equipped with ratchet bars applied to the'innerjsurface of the walls thereof, a packing board ing said slots, the outer. extremitiesof the.,

rods engaging the ratchet bars, and a spring for actuating the rods, said spring being coiled around the center of the'plate and having one extremity connected therewith, while the` other extremity; is attached to theboard, for theV purpose set forth.

'-l. @he combination with a trunk, .or packing case, of ratchet bars vertically disposed upon the interior of the opposite vside and end walls of the saine, and a packing board adapted7 to enter the said Vtrunk and equipped with ratchet rodsv whose outereX- tremities lare adapted to 'engage the said ratchet bars of the trunk'a d whose inner extremities are provided Wi i pins,'a plate centrally located. and pivotally mounted on the packing'board, and having slots into which the pins fproject, said slots being forth.

curved to cause the pins to move toward the center of motion as the plate 1s moved in' a givenl direction, and a spring connected with the said plate for normally holding the pla-tel in position to cause 'the pins to engage the outer extremities ofthe slots, the pivoted plate having. a .handle projecting laterally .from the' center of motionto facilitate its manipulation in opposition to the spring for the purpose of moving the-ratchet rods finwa-rdly toward thel center of the board, substantially as described( .5. A device of the class described, com prising a board composed of longitudinally and transversely disposed members, means for suspendingthe board 'by connectingthe same with suitable supporting device, fold,- ing hooks mounted upon the longitudinally disposed members, the said hooks diminishing in length from the upper member of theI board, downwardly, for the purpose set 6. A device of the class described, consisting of a board composed of'longit-udinally disposed members, having 4lexible suspen-l sion means applied to one edge-thereof, and

.folding hooks applied in staggered relation to the said members and diminishing in length from the upper member of the board downwardly when the latter is suspended, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature in presence .of two witnesses.

HARRY Gr. BATES. lVit-nesse's F. E. BOWEN, A. EBERT OBRIEN. 

